It's about that time again. So this week, summed up in one word has been delicious. SO. MUCH. FOOD. We've been asked over to dinner at least once a day since Wednesday. Super good. This is because it's Chinese New Year. It's basically Taiwan's equivalent of Christmas in the sense that kids get a 2 week break from school, families are together, there's good food, and there's lots of festivals happening. I hear China is way more into it, but it's still pretty big here. Some things that are specific to Chinese New Year, however, are firecrackers being lit off at 7:00 AM, people saying they're busy when they're on vacation, and red envelopes(a traditional gift that Chinese people give others with money inside) members give you that you have to awkwardly refuse/donate to the general missionary fund. Super fun stuff. I also don't remember Christmas having this many huge meals. It seems like no one ever stops eating, especially me. So yeah, I'll probably have gained a few kilos by the time this is all said and done. We've still got 3 more days of it. Ahh!
Anyway, about the second half of the title, the 有辦法(yoh bahn fa) part. Our mission has a motto that goes 有信心有辦法(yoh ban fa yoh sheen sheen) which means "when you have faith, there's a way." So, about a year ago, there was this really big culture in the mission where missionaries often put having a way before having faith. These missionaries were called "yoh ban fa" missionaries because they just did everything they could to get people baptized which was really good because a lot of people were able to receive of those blessings, but it also meant that the retention rate(the amount of people who actually stayed active) wasn't super high sometimes. Anyway, apparently, it used to be required that you parted your hair and in the yoh ban fa culture, the quality of your part was directly related to the quality of the missionary you were. Elder Gish's trainer was very much of that opinion so Elder Gish has carried some of that with him. He has very much encouraged me to wear a part in my hair and so I've started, but not because that reflects me being a super awesome missionary. It's because for a long time, I refused to part my hair because I thought it looked dumb and I didn't want to look like a dweeb or whatever, but when I put that part in my hair, I looked in the mirror and thought wow, that is a sharp-looking missionary. I want to talk to him. and I hope that's what people on the street think too.
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| And, here it is. Part-tastic. Also check out that chub, my friends! That means I'm eating well is what that means.Also is that tan-line from my bike helmet? I don't know, I just noticed it. |
As far as investigators go, this has been a real slow week for us. Because of Chinese New Year, everyone is either gone to be with family or has family in town so it's really rough trying to meet with people. We met with a really cool guy named Mr. Ye. He works in the EMT so coming to church will be pretty rough but he's so sweet. He's really nice, and I think the gospel is going to help him so much. Andy is still deeply trenched in his theories so that's going to be a bit longer, but he came to church yesterday which is SWEET. We met with a guy named Eason who's 18 and is either golden or is just willing to do whatever an American tells him to do. We're hoping it's the former, but we're really going to try and make sure he gains his own testimony so he stays active after we leave. Golden Chen is still having work problems and wasn't able to come to church yesterday because he had to take his sister up to Taipei, but we met with him this morning and shared the story of the Brother of Jared(SUPER awesome story with lots of layers of meaning, by the way. Everyone, chow down on that spiritual feast.) He said he will do what the brother of Jared did and think of a solution, do all he can, and then pray that the Lord will help him. We will be fasting for him this week. I can't ask you to fast because that's against the mission rules, but please pray! He's a great guy and definitely would have already been baptized if it weren't for his work situation, so he really needs help with that.
Also, I love you guys! 新年快樂！Happy New Year!
-Elder Brendan Smith
施安彬長老
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